Hypnotised
by Lilting Glamour
Summary: Ever since she first saw him, he had hypnotised her. Now, she hypnotised him. And one day, perhaps they'll realise that it was always meant to be. -Oneshot YukimuraxOC- Please read and review!


Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

* * *

Ever since she first saw him, he had hypnotised her.

Every day, she sat behind him in class, wondering about him, and about what lay behind that flawless facade he put on all the time in front of others.

Every day, she sat there, staring at the back of his head, wishing that he would look around.

But he never did.

Why would he? He was Yukimura Seiichi, the Child of God, captain of the nation's number one tennis team, the boy that all of Rikkaidai worshipped, the perfect person.

She was just a normal girl, the dancer, the one who was never noticed, hidden in the background no matter what she did.

The more she thought about it, the more enthralled she became. Even Sanada, the vice-captain of the tennis team and the person who was notorious for slapping his own teammates for a loss and his harsh training regimes, obeyed him without question.

She remembered back to the first day of school in first year, when she first saw him.

* * *

"_Haru-chan!" _

_She turned around, only to be met with a flash of blonde hair and a hug that knocked the breath out of her lungs. _

"_Haru-chan, I missed you so much! I was so bored in the holidays because you went to visit your grandfather, and left me all alone here in Kanagawa!"_

"_Yuki-"_

"_Never leave me alone like that again! I was so scared that you would decide to not come back and I would be all by myself here at this enormous school and-"_

"_Yuki, let go of me!"_

_The blonde-haired girl let go immediately, with an adorable pout on her face. _

"_But Haru-chan, didn't you miss me?"_

_The taller girl sighed, giving in to the puppy-eyed look that her tiny friend was giving her. _

"…_yes, I missed you too."_

_Yuki instantly hugged her again, squealing with joy. _

"_Yay! Haru-chan missed me too! We're best friends forever!"_

"_I told you _not _to call me Haru-chan. That's not my name."_

"_But you're Haru-chan!"_

"_My name is Haruka!"_

"_Haru-chan!"_

"_Haruka!"_

"_Haru-chan!"_

_Before Haruka could retort again, a sudden hush fell across the crowd of students in the hall. The two girls looked around, and saw the students parting to form a pathway through the middle to the stage. _

_And walking down the aisle created were three boys. _

_She had heard of them already, even though she had never met them in her life. Rumours of the Iron Triangle had already surfaced on the first day, about how the three prodigy freshman tennis players had all come to Rikkaidai. _

_Yanagi Renji, the Master. He had perpetually closed eyes, but as he walked, it seemed as though he was watching everything that happened at the same time. _

_Sanada Genichiro, the Emperor. His intimidating aura either terrified or struck awe into all those watching, and his scowl only served to enhance this. _

_And finally, Yukimura Seiichi, the Child of God. _

_For Haruka, her eyes only saw the last of the three. _

_With his ocean-blue eyes and wavy, shoulder-length hair, Yukimura had a fragile countenance, almost like that of a girl. But not one person in that room would have ever even thought to call him feminine. _

_Because his regal aura radiated masculinity, and power. _

_His smile was dazzling. Perfect. _

_But it was a mask, brilliantly crafted, to ensure that the Child of God would be nothing less than flawless at all times. _

_And from that day on, the entire school fell to their knees and worshipped him. _

_Takeda Haruka was no exception._

* * *

That day, she was sitting in class again. Behind Yukimura.

Even his position was perfect. With the sunlight streaming in through the window, his hair was illuminated with golden streaks, forming a faint halo of light around his head. Leaning on his hand, with his tousled hair falling to his shoulders, Yukimura was living up to his name.

If only he would notice her, even for a second.

But he never did.

"Alright, I will be reading out the pairs for the assignment that you will work on for the next two weeks. I expect you to get on with each other, so this lesson, you will be introducing yourselves if necessary and discussing ideas. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Takashi-sensei!"

"First pair is Watanabe Jun and…"

She was daydreaming again. English was such a boring class. Because she had moved to Japan from America when she was a child, the language was far too easy for her.

"Yukimura Seiichi."

As one, the class held their breath, and leaned forward. To be in a pair with the Child of God himself was a privilege, an honour that was bestowed upon the most fortunate.

"Takeda Haruka."

She hadn't heard Takashi-sensei read out the pairs. Instead, she was busy staring out the window, thinking about what the exact colour of the ocean was…

"Takeda-san, are you listening?"

She jolted out of her reverie, startled by the teacher's voice.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Takashi-sensei stared at her in exasperation.

"Are you going to leave Yukimura-san to complete the project on his own while you daydream in class?"

Snickers could be heard in the classroom. Girls were shooting her jealous looks, for her good fortune in being paired up with Yukimura.

Yukimura himself was composed, nonchalant, indifferent to the whisperings in the class.

She flushed with embarrassment and murmured a hushed apology to Takashi-sensei before hurriedly standing up and picking up her books to move next to Yukimura.

She failed to see the foot of a girl who had stuck her leg out to trip her.

The last thing she saw before she fell was Yukimura's shocked expression.

"Takeda-san?"

All she could see was darkness. It surrounded her, obscuring her thoughts, shutting her in.

* * *

"Takeda, can you hear me?"

She vaguely remembered that voice. She had heard it somewhere before.

"Can you open your eyes for me, Takeda?"

_Ah_. She remembered now. She knew who it was.

Her eyes slowly opened, and was met with blue eyes staring back.

_Oh_.

"…Yukimura-san?"

"Ah, Takeda-san, you're awake."

His voice was filled with relief, which confused her. Why would he be relieved that she had woken up?

Now that she thought about it, she was in a room that she dimly recognised, but she wasn't sure where from…

"In case you're wondering, you're in the nurse's office. Takashi-sensei sent me to bring you here after you fell."

So that's where she was. The room brought back unpleasant memories that she would rather not remember.

"W-what happened?"

His smile faltered slightly, only for a moment, before growing even wider, dazzling in its brilliance.

"Ah, when you fell, you hit your head on the table and lost consciousness. There's nothing to worry about though, the nurse said that there's no concussion or permanent injury."

"Oh…I see."

She faintly remembered tripping over something in her path, but she couldn't remember what it was. Looking around the room, an involuntary shudder came across her.

Of course, he noticed.

"Hmm? What's the matter?"

"It's nothing. It's just that…"

She didn't know why she was telling him at all. She barely knew him, and she was already on the verge of spilling her secrets out to him.

On a whim, she decided to tell him anyway.

"…the last time I was in here, I wanted to die."

Pause. His eyes momentarily widened in shock, and his mouth parted slightly.

She looked at the ceiling, trying to forget that he was listening.

"I'm a dancer, you know? Back in first year, I had high hopes of becoming a professional in the future."

It was getting easier to talk, now that she had begun.

"But I broke my ankle and tore my muscle one day. It wasn't so much the pain that upset me…it was the thought that I would never be able to dance properly again."

His eyes softened in understanding, and he hesitantly reached over, and grasped her hand.

"I know."

If it had been anyone else, those two words would have been superficial, shallow- no one else understood the pain of having a bright future torn away because of an injury.

But he did. Everyone knew about the paralysis in his arm, and the dangerous operations he endured to regain the use of his arm.

No one expected him to survive.

But he did.

And she admired him for that.

* * *

"You know, I've always admired you because of the way you pulled through. Whenever I saw you, I would think back to what I went through, and wish that I had been like you."

A moment of silence hung in the air.

"Who knows? Maybe if I had, I would be still a promising dancer."

A tear lingered in the corner of her eye, almost falling, but never did. Lost in her thoughts for a moment, she jerked when she felt him squeeze her hand. She glanced at him in surprise.

"You are amazing just as you are. You don't need to be like me."

Somehow, his words calmed her, like a soothing breeze would. Somehow, when he said it, it made her believe in herself, believe that what he said was true.

_Thank you._

The unspoken words hovered in the air, and he didn't need to hear her say them for him to understand what she meant.

His smile appeared, different because it was a sincere, understanding smile this time, not a mask. But it was just as dazzling and brilliant. Perhaps even more.

For a few minutes, they remained silent, in a comfortable silence, where they relaxed and simply enjoyed the quiet with each other.

They barely knew each other.

But understanding had forged a bond that ran deeper than it did between people who had known each other for years.

They understood each other.

And that was what connected them to one another.

Then, he broke it by standing up with a rueful smile on his face.

"I'll be leaving first then, Takeda."

He turned to leave.

Impulsively, the words came out of her mouth before she even realised she had spoken them.

"Haruka."

He turned around, lifting an elegantly arched eyebrow in question.

"Hmm?"

"Call me Haruka."

He paused, a small, puzzled frown marring his perfect features before it smoothed out and his dazzling smile appeared again.

"In that case, you can call me Seiichi."

He was giving her a choice. She could refuse, and turn away from the friendship he was offering her, or she could embrace it, and venture into something new and unprecedented.

"…Seiichi."

The corner of his mouth twitched, and lifted up even further. He turned again towards the door, before turning back and holding out his hand in a gesture of friendship.

"Shall we go then, Haruka?"

Her name sounded strange on his lips, but she decided…she liked the sound of it. A small smile appeared on her face.

"Yes, Seiichi."

And as she stood to follow him, their fingers brushed against each other.

No. It wasn't a fairy tale, where true love blossomed at first sight. It would be years before their feelings shifted into romance, but they had come just a little bit closer.

* * *

Ever since she first saw him, he had hypnotised her.

Now, she hypnotised him.

And one day, perhaps they'll realise that it was always meant to be.


End file.
